ELI5: How does a vacuum work?

r/

Is it that a fan creates its suction by blowing air towards an exhaust, facing opposite from the hose, which causes the dust and such from the nozzle of the hose to be sucked up? I really wanna nail the specifics right because I’m using it to hopefully make a project.

Comments

  1. fml86 Avatar

    Your description is pretty accurate. What do you want to know specifically?

  2. GlobalWatts Avatar

    >Is it that a fan creates its suction by blowing air towards an exhaust, facing opposite from the hose, which causes the dust and such from the nozzle of the hose to be sucked up?

    Yes. The fan removes air, which creates an area of low pressure that air from the hose end will try to fill, bringing other stuff with it.

  3. jamcdonald120 Avatar

    the only thing you are missing from being able to make a project out of it is the filter bag to keep the dirt from blowing out the output nozzle. (new vacuums use a centripetal separator instead, but for a project use a bag or water tank (or a dust collector style separator))

  4. blinkysmurf Avatar

    You got it.

    The fan creates a low pressure space and air rushes into the hose to occupy that space.

  5. gigashadowwolf Avatar

    The biggest difference between it and a normal axial fan is it’s designed to create significantly more static pressure. A type of fan called a blower fan does the same thing although a vacuum fan does it a little more strongly than a typical blower fan.

    But yeah, it’s basically a type of fan. It’s just instead of just pushing air in a direction as it spins, it traps pockets of air and pushes them out.

  6. Columbus43219 Avatar

    Learn the definition of a “bypass motor” before you choose a vacuum motor. Some designs blow air around the motor, some drive the blades using a sort of transmission, some put the motor to the side of the air flow. They all have pros and cons, but “bypass motor” will get you to the right part of google.

  7. chrome-spokes Avatar

    Some beneficial replies have been already given. I will just add on, OP, in suggesting to study what will best suit your project in employing either a forced draft or induced draft to create the desired vacuum.